#academicfreedom — Public Fediverse posts

At least five profs who were fired for criticizing #CharlieKirk are still out of work and uncompensated for the violation of their First Amendment rights.
theintercept.com/2026/09/10/c...

#Acadsky #AcademicFreedom #Censorship #FirstAmendment #USPol #USPolitics

Fired After the Charlie Kirk R...

Update. At least five profs who were fired for criticizing #CharlieKirk are still out of work and uncompensated for the violation of their First Amendment rights.
https://theintercept.com/2026/09/10/charlie-kirk-fired-censorship-free-speech/

#Academia #AcademicFreedom #Censorship #FirstAmendment #USPol #USPolitics

https://www.europesays.com/africa/419928/ Global Edition #Academic #AcademicFreedom #education #Ethiopia #HigherEducation #Leadership #news #transformative #university

#New blog post by our Academy in Exile Fellow Yerkebulan Sairambay about how digitalisation boosts access to research data in Kazakhstan — but authoritarian governance complicates #fieldwork.

https://discuss-data.net/cs/eescca/section/blog/data-collection-kazakhstan/

@dfg_public

#Research #Kazakhstan #AcademicFreedom

#New blog post by our Academy in Exile Fellow Yerkebulan Sairambay about how digitalisation boosts access to research data in Kazakhstan — but authoritarian governance complicates #fieldwork.

https://discuss-data.net/cs/eescca/section/blog/data-collection-kazakhstan/

@dfg_public

#Research #Kazakhstan #AcademicFreedom

#New blog post by our Academy in Exile Fellow Yerkebulan Sairambay about how digitalisation boosts access to research data in Kazakhstan — but authoritarian governance complicates #fieldwork.

https://discuss-data.net/cs/eescca/section/blog/data-collection-kazakhstan/

@dfg_public

#Research #Kazakhstan #AcademicFreedom

Inside the D.O.J.’s Investigation of Fauci and Other Virus Scientists

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/05/health/fauci-morens-covid-prosecutions.html

Among other commitments it also requires #Northwestern to revoke the so-called #DeeringMeadow agreement, which it signed in April 2024 in exchange for pro-#Palestinian #protesters ending their tent encampment on campus.

During negotiations, interim #university president Henry Bienen said Northwestern refused to cede control over #hiring, #admissions, or its #curriculum. “I would not have signed this agreement without provisions ensuring that is the case,” he said.

#law #AcademicFreedom

Capitulation

#Northwestern to pay $75 million in deal with #Trump admin to restore #federal #funding

#NorthwesternUniversity has agreed to pay $75 million to the US government in a deal with the Trump admin to end a series of investigations & restore hundreds of millions of dollars in federal #research funding.

#extortion #law #FirstAmendment #AcademicFreedom #FreeSpeech #Palestinian #HumanRights #protests
https://apnews.com/article/trump-northwestern-agreement-antisemitism-d646516c3f800faa416228deab61532c

"In February, Sheffield Hallam University, home to the Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice (HKC), a leading research institution focused on human rights, ordered one of its best-known professors, Laura Murphy, to cease research on supply chains and forced labour in China."

Academic freedom is threatened by institutional conflicts of interest. Her research has been reinstated after she said she would take legal action.

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/nov/03/uk-university-halted-human-rights-research-after-pressure-from-china

[Edit: more background on the topic https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2025-05-29/chinas-economy-runs-on-uyghur-forced-labour]

#AcademicFreedom #SheffieldHallam #UKresearch #ConflictsOfInterest #UKuniversities #HumanRights #ForcedLabour #Uighurs #Xinjiang #LauraMurphy #UKChinaRelations

Vanderbilt Student Government and the Vanderbilt chapter of American Association of University Professors host campus Teach-In in response to Trump administration’s higher education compact – The Vanderbilt Hustler

Vanderbilt Student Government and the Vanderbilt chapter of American Association of University Professors host campus Teach-In in response to Trump administration’s higher education compact

Professors and graduate students gathered at the Teach-In to speak out against the compact.

By Ella Crocco, Staffer-in-Training, Oct 24, 2025

Vanderbilt Student Government and members of Vanderbilt’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors hosted a Teach-In on Oct. 17 regarding the higher education compact Vanderbilt was sent from the Trump administration. Students and faculty at the event discussed how they believe the compact could endanger academic freedom, education policy and the university’s core values, among other topics.   

Jessie Hock, associate English department chair and associate professor of English, opened the Teach-In with contextual remarks. Carwil Bjork-James, associate professor in social movements, indigenous rights and political anthropology, then spoke to the crowd about how he believes that if Vanderbilt agrees to the compact, it could have negative financial impacts for the university.  

“I think that our administrators are being misled by the promise of more research funding by an administration that is clearly cutting off research funding and restricting it at every level,” Bjork-James said.  

In an interview with The Hustler, Bjork-James said that the compact will not help ensure Vanderbilt is a space where students and faculty can freely express their thoughts.  

“I would say faculty are really committed to maintaining this campus as a place where [students] can speak freely, where [students] can come here with any political opinion, with any perspective, get an open education and where there are viable places to do scholarship and research and this compact is not the right way to do that,” Bjork-James said. 

Jada Benn Torres, associate professor in genetics, race and genetic ancestry, followed by speaking about how she believed Vanderbilt signing the compact would limit scientific research and free speech. In a message to The Hustler, Benn Torres said that the compact could contribute to the marginalization of communities and hopes Vanderbilt will continue to be a place where freedom of discussion is practiced.  

“I am very concerned that the compact will upend academic freedom and freedom of expression. Additionally, there are elements of the compact that further marginalize communities that are already marginalized,” Torres said. “Overall, I think that the university needs to be a place where we are free to ask difficult questions and grapple with uncomfortable answers.” 

Rebecca Epstein-Levy, assistant professor of Jewish studies and gender & sexuality studies, spoke about how she believes the compact has anti-trans provisions which would limit her ability to teach and research certain topics about Judaism and sex, sexuality, gender and disability.   

“I’m a Jewish ethicist, and I research and teach courses at the intersection of Jewish text, Jewish thought, and sex, sexuality, gender and disability,” Epstein-Levy said. “The compact’s claim that there are only two genders — a claim which is bigoted, venal and spectacularly wrong — would make it impossible for me to teach these subjects accurately and responsibly.” 

Jonathan Gilligan, earth and environmental studies and civil and environmental engineering professor, spoke about how he believes the compact could limit research and what is taught in science classes because topics may offend conservative policies. 

Gilligan shared in an interview with The Hustler that he and many of his colleagues are worried about government overreach. They believe that if the government enforces politicized versions of science upon universities, they will not stop with the biology of sex and gender.

Editor’s Note: I am proud of hopeful of American higher education. Stand up for your rights, and protect us all with your views and passion for Democracy. –DrWeb

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Vanderbilt Student Government and the Vanderbilt chapter of American Association of University Professors host campus Teach-In in response to Trump administration’s higher education compact – The Vanderbilt Hustler

#2025 #AAUP #AcademicFreedom #America #DEI #DonaldTrump #Education #Health #History #Libraries #Library #LibraryOfCongress #Opinion #Politics #Resistance #Science #StudentGovernment #TeachIn #TheVanderbiltHustler #Trump #TrumpAdministration #TrumpSCompact #UnitedStates #VanderbiltUniversity

…In April of this year, the #FederalGovernment abruptly froze at least $790 million in federal #research #funding that had been planned for #Northwestern, a Big Ten #school near #Chicago.

The attacks on #Northwestern have been part of a broader campaign by #Republicans to take American #universities…. Schill’s resignation is the latest in a series of high-profile departures from the nation’s elite #schools….

#law #Constitution #AcademicFreedom #education #Trump #BrainDrain #fascism #tyranny

The president of #NorthwesternUniversity, Michael H. Schill, announced Thursday that he would resign, after a difficult tenure that included attacks from #Republicans in #Congress & cuts by the #Trump admin that forced the #university to lay off hundreds.

#Northwestern became a target this year of Trump ofcls, who cut nearly $800 million of the university’s federal #research #funding, after months of intense scrutiny from Republicans.

#law #Constitution #AcademicFreedom #education #BrainDrain

Enough!!!

#Northwestern President Will Resign After #University Faced #Republican Pressure

The president, Michael Schill, will step down after months of turbulence, including #Trump administration cuts of $790 million to the university’s #research #funding.

#law #Constitution #AcademicFreedom #education #Trump #BrainDrain #fascism #tyranny #autocracy #authoritarianism #totalitarianism
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/04/us/northwestern-president-resigns.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

The ban on #InternationalStudents would also impact #HarvardLaw's Juris Doctor [the graduate program for every #lawyer in the #US] & Doctor of Juridical Science programs. Each #JD class of 560 typically includes 45 to 50 intl students—about 9%—for a total of about 150 #students spread across 3 classes. The #SJD, which is for aspiring #legal #academics & typically has ~60 people enrolled, also draws heavily from overseas.

#Trump #law #immigration #AcademicFreedom #BrainDrain #Harvard

The #Trump admin is also attempting to #deport some foreign protesters & has revoked hundreds of #visas across the country.

The Trump admin has frozen or canceled some #funding for #universities like #Columbia, #Princeton, #Brown, University of #Pennsylvania, #Cornell & #Northwestern as well.

#law #Constitution #FreeSpeech #AcademicFreedom #education #research #innovation #Harvard #BrainDrain

"A vicious campaign by Israeli academia, police, and media to silence the professor shows Palestinians they have no safe place in Zionist institutions."

by a former student: https://www.972mag.com/nadera-shalhoub-kevorkian-israeli-academia/ @israel @academicchatter

#faculty #academia #academic #universities #CulturalBoycott #academicChatter #war #israel #israelGazaWar #higherEd #education #academicFreedom #citizenship #democracy #police #repression #socialMedia #972mag #research #dissent #fragility #JewishFragility #science #institutionsDeceive #indigeneity #settlers #colonialism #Zionism #antiZionism #October7 #ashlaa #torture #research #childhood #university #academics #harassment #incitment #warEffort #nationalism #citizenship #ShalhoubKevorkian #theocracy #JewishState #freeSpeech #OngoingNakba #indoctrination #brainwashing #campus #raceMaking #Jerusalem #campuses #education

Academic Deported Ahead of Karnataka Govt Event

Nitasha Kaul, who heads the Centre for the Study of Democracy at the University of Westminster, was invited by the Karnataka government to attend ‘The Constitution and Unity in India’ conference as a delegate. She was denied entry and made to leave India, she says.

#dissent #AcademicFreedom UnionGovt #NitashaKaul #KarnatakaGovt #RSS #kashmir #article370 #article370abrogation #hindutva #india

https://thewire.in/rights/nitasha-kaul-kashmiri-academic-uk-deported-denied-entry-karnataka

NEW: The CvB has said they'll follow the advice of the University Council on the AI-driven smart cameras they secretively put up in #LeidenUniversity

The UC deliberates on this on MONDAY 30/1.

There's still time to sign the open letter!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ei3DyOjK1RG5qm37cgGIPJEeLMLmOEp7Cu3Um38LkI0/edit

#UnseeUs #Cameragate #UniversiteitLeiden #Surveillance #AcademicFreedom #AkademieNL

@dutchacademics @academicchatter